Our New Home

Come visit! The pool awaits you!

Birthday Cake!

Here's my birthday cake... its a penguin just to let you know! =D

My Birthday!

Today is my birthday! Yea... i will be 14, finally. There is a dance this Saturday and I will be able to go. So yipee.. I'll post pictures of my penguin cake later! :)

Productivity

When we got home from out cruise and our house still hadn't sold we decided to was time to get to work... again. This weekend we got started on some projects that will take us a couple weeks to complete. We power washed the gazebo and back stairs preparing them to get stained.

The first coat of stain!

We also have an awesome plan for our kitchen counter tops but before we jump into that, we decided to practice on a desk in the garage. First we sanded and primed.

Then we painted a base color and spray painted some stone fleck to add some color and dimension.

Then you finish it off with an epoxy sort of mixture. This is the hard part of the process. It means constant babysitting for about 4 hours. Continually wiping edges and using a blow torch to get the bubbles out. Lots of watching and care.

After about 4 hours, it stops running and you can finally stop babysitting, although it still won't be dry for about another 4 hours. Here is the comparison of the finished side and the side we didn't touch. We only did half the desk in case we totally blew the first half and needed more practice. Luckily so far it looks like we aced it!

We think it looks gorgeous! It will make our counter tops look like a solid surface and perhaps get us on the road to a sale, and living together again in Missouri! (BTW pictures don't do it justice, it is just so pretty, but it doesn't seem to translate in the pictures)

Highlights

Here is just a small sample of our Caribbean cruise we took last week. We had a blast and LOVED spending 10 whole days with Jason! We haven't spent that much time with him in over 2 months! Here we are when we first got on the ship, of course we headed straight to the ice cream!

Our first formal night!

Many, many times Paisley would come back from camp Carnival with her face painted. Here she is a princess.

The recognizable tail of a carnival cruise ship.

Jason was a good sport during the camp carnival scavenger hunt and put ice cream all over his face to check off one of the items on the list.

Swimming in Jamaica! The water was really cold, but very beautiful. There weren't any waves and we all had a blast! Jason and I ended up getting sunburned on our shoulders, so that was a bummer for the rest of the trip, but it didn't slow us down!

In the Cayman Islands we went in a semi-submarine to see the coral reefs, ship wrecks and fish around the island. It was a lot of fun!

In Cozumel we had our biggest adventure. We took a long ferry ride across to mainland Mexico. Then we took a long drive down to Tulum so visit the Mayan ruins. Paisley and Jarom fell asleep on the car ride to and from the ruins.

The timing in Cozumel was short enough to make us nervous most of the day, so we were very happy it all turned out ok and we made it back to the ship in time!

The day before the cruise was over we stumbled across a "fun farewell" where the drinks were free, so we enjoyed some fruit punch!

Paisley loved the pizza on the cruise and had some almost every day. We also loved it when we got to sit by the window at dinner.

What a wonderful trip with wonderful people! We love cruising and it has been a long time since we have enjoyed such a great cruise! We can't wait to go again sometime!

Paisley

Here is our cute paisley with her new haircut on her new bike! She looks so grown up!!

And because Jarom is so cute here he is!!

hi!!

Hi family! long time no posting, for me. :) I thought I would update ya'll on my life, as well as let you know how much I have been thinking about all of you and missing everyone. I hope to be able to come to the family reunion this year, that will depend on my work situation, but I am praying for an opportunity. So! After my year and a half or so of slacking from school, I am finally getting my Associates of Science degree this semester, in about a month. I was not planning on walking cause my parents cant come out, but the invite is open to all of you! for May 6th. If any of you want to come, I will happily walk to share the ocassion with family. :) I also will be getting my phlebotomy certificate. I will actually finish that class before the actual semester is over. I even applied for a position at the hospital which would be totally awesome if I get it. My current job at Crystal Inn as the breakfast person would be easy to get off for the family reunion, I am just not sure where I will stand if I get the job as a Phlebotomist. :) ALSO! I was not planning on telling any of you ;) until a call was in my hands, but I just keep getting all excited and what not I have to share. :) I am planning on serving a mission. I know I had planned on that before, but this time is definitely different. I have a sure answer its what I should do as well as what I want to do and desire to do. I will however be waiting probably til December. when I moved home in 2009 I got dental work done that walmart led me to believe my insurance covered for the month after I quit, but it ended up not. So I have like 2000+ dollars of fun debt to pay off and I want to save and contribute to a mission. So that is the plan. :) I am excited for it. My testimony in the gospel has grown very strong these last few months and it is something very precious to me. I want to share it and help others feel the great joy I have from the gospel. i have started work on my papers in case plans change, like the phlebotomy job would help me earn alot more faster to pay off the debt faster compared to my current job. But I trust Heavenly Father and his hand in my life, and I know as long as I am doing what is right and good he will guide and direct me in the fun journey of life! Sorry to write so much. :) I hope all of you are doing splendid. :) my testimony of families has certainly grown as my testimony in the gospel has grown and I just love and appreciate all of you so much and the support, prayers and love you have given me through my crazy progression and learning through life. :) and I just love and miss all of you! I hope I can go to the family reunion so I can spend some time with all of you again. :) Well I am praying for all of you and love all of you. Have a great week! Love, Lauren